AP Interview: Gaza militant group wins Iran praise

A Palestinian boy looks from the rooftop of a destroyed house in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. A leading Islamic cleric in the Gaza Strip has ruled it a sin to violate the recent cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that governs the Palestinian territory according a religious legitimacy to the truce and giving the Gaza government strong backing to enforce it. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Israel launched its offensive on Nov. 14 in a bid to halt months of Palestinian rocket attacks. It says it inflicted heavy damage on Gaza militants, but the territory’s armed groups fired hundreds of rockets into Israel before a cease-fire was declared last Wednesday.

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Shallah says indirect follow-up talks between Gaza Palestinian leaders and Israel, mediated by Egypt, are set to take place later Monday.